In 1982, I was 12 years old. One evening that winter, near the holidays, my mother woke me up from a deep sleep at 2am. She was freaking out, and wanted me to verify that she wasn't crazy. Our home in Vermont is located high on the East side of the Winooski River Valley. From my bedroom window, there is a beautiful 20 mile view across the valley towards Camel's Hump. About 8 miles away down in that river valley there is a hydro-power dam. At the time it was under construction and there was a large crane at the site. During the holidays they hung a array of lights on the crane tower to look like a Christmas tree. We could see that from our house. So, what had my mother so scared? There was a light hovering over the dam, and it was changing colors. Red, blue, green, white, red again. It was moving back and forth ever so slowly, and occasionally would "bounce" up and down. I was an aircraft freak even at that age and mom wanted to know if I knew what it was. I didn't. From our vantage point, it was impossible to tell if it was something moving on the mountain side beyond the river or if it was between us and the far side of the valley, but it sure looked like it was moving over the lights on the crane. My mother called the BTV airport and asked them if anyone else was calling in about this mysterious light in the valley. Of course, they pretty much thought she was a crazy lady and said that nothing was amiss. They did, however, give her the number to our nearest military installation, Plattsburgh Air Base (closed in 1992). So, at my behest, she called them and told the same story. You guessed it - same result. "You're crazy lady!".

It was a crystal clear night, so we returned to the window to watch this object some more. Within five minutes something unexpected happened. From the opposite side of the valley several aircraft popped up over the ridge in formation and headed down the valley. We could see their collision lights with the familiar red, green and white strobes. I figured military, of course, but wondered about the response time. Plattsburgh is at least 50 miles away by air, so it is possible they could cover that distance under full military power if they had been on the ready line when we called...or, had they already been on the way? The jets got to within two miles or so of the mysterious object when it suddenly brightened, turned white, and went straight up. Fast. It disappeared into the night sky effortlessly. We continued to watch for several more minutes as the jets did a few orbits, then returned the way they came. With that, we called it a night. Others in my high school saw the event or heard the jets, but we never saw anything in the news. I'll probably never know, but it definitely helped form the opinions I have today about our visitors from other worlds. NOTE: The above image is a rendering.

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